A Study of the Relationship Between Prototyping and Communication in Engineering Design
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Krishnakumar, Sandeep
- Graduate Program:
- Industrial Engineering (PHD)
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 14, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Steven Landry, Program Head/Chair
matt parkinson, Major Field Member
Chris McComb, Major Field Member
Carlye Lauff, Special Member
Catherine Berdanier, Outside Unit & Field Member
Jessica Menold, Chair & Dissertation Advisor - Keywords:
- Prototyping
Communication
Design Education
Sketches
Cognitive Load
Shared Understanding - Abstract:
- Prototyping plays a pivotal role in the engineering design process. Prototypes represent physical or digital manifestations of design ideas, and as such act as effective communication tools for designers. While the benefits of prototyping are well-documented in research, the fundamental ways in which the construction of a prototype affects designers’ communication of design outcomes and processes are not well understood. This dissertation explores the complex relationship between prototyping and communication. In the first chapter, I outline the motivation and objective of this dissertation. In the second chapter, I examine how the creation of a prototype, designers’ communication strategies, and recollection of design processes are related to each other. A controlled in-situ study was conducted with 45 undergraduate engineering students. Results identify several rhetorical strategies and justifications associated with the prototyping process. Specifically, our findings shed light on how the creation of a prototype may alter students’ framing and subsequent communication of the problem space. The third chapter investigates how novice designers communicate design knowledge through argumentation and prototypes. Design pitches were collected from 40 capstone design teams. A move analysis and Markov modelling identified six unique rhetorical moves and how novices transitioned between them. Additionally, building upon the second chapter, the results also identified several justifications and rhetorical strategies used by novices that were driven by prototyping efforts. While prototypes act as effective communication tools, the process of creating a prototype also shapes the communicative patterns of novice designers. The fourth chapter explores the contexts in which sketches and low-fidelity physical prototypes act as effective communication tools. Gaining an understanding of how different design representations shape the cognitive resources used by listeners and communicators and the shared understanding established would allow designers to weigh the communicative benefits of specific artifacts versus the costs of creating iv them. A controlled study was conducted with 44 participants paired in dyads. The cognitive load involved in communicating with sketches and low-fidelity physical prototypes and shared understanding achieved in each case was investigated. Results suggest that low-fidelity physical prototypes may be associated with greater levels of perceived mental and physical demand for listeners. Qualitative analysis shows that this difference may be associated with a low-fidelity prototype’s ability to convey detailed information and facilitate connections between verbal explanations and visual/physical representations. Results from this chapter can inform designers’ decision making when selecting the most appropriate design representation to communicate. Finally, the last chapter explores opportunities for future work. In sum, this dissertation builds foundational knowledge on the relationship between prototyping and communication. Results from this work can inform pedagogical interventions to train novice designers to better communicate, equip novice designers with better awareness of their communicative practices, and provide designers with the knowledge to appropriately select representations to communicate.